


In the Dark

by chimneysmoke (recension)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-27
Updated: 2013-12-27
Packaged: 2018-01-06 08:06:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1104445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/recension/pseuds/chimneysmoke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Tom/Ginny, don't let the ghost get in your heart"</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> For the _Welcome Home_ Harry Potter LJ ficathon.
> 
> Original prompt: "Tom/Ginny, don't let the ghost get in your heart"

Harry holds her in the dark, wraps his arms around her and hugs her tight. She smells him, her husband, warm and sweet and comforting—she's always been comforted by the smell of a man. It's the only way she can sleep.

But he's changed, Harry, in the past few weeks. Since he's died and returned there's something missing in him. Ginny doesn't like the change.

Harry smiles much more now, more than he ever did before. He rarely loses his temper. Everything slides off his back, even if it upsets him, he just lets it go. It's a wisdom she wishes she had.

 

She slicks his hair back after his shower and takes up a pair of scissors, trimming his hair with practiced hands. he holds his glasses in his hands and she runs a thumb over the scar when she reaches it.

He's dark hair and a clean-shaven jaw and his hands are just like Tom's but gone is the evil that ripped her apart. She's not sure she loves him after that, but she's positive she can't tell him her doubts.

She makes a conscious effort to shove down everything Tom's ever made her feel. Sometimes that even includes love.

 

Ginny reaches for the journal Percy'd bought her fourth year. "To get over your fears, to write again," he'd told her, but she hadn't touched a page.

"Tom?" she scrawls on the page and feels stupid for doing it. What would she say if she got hold of him? What would she do if she knew he was still alive?

The ink sits on the page and doesn't seep through. No one replies. She tears out the sheet and tosses it in the bin.

 

In no time at all, number 12 Grimmauld Place is almost habitable again. Ginny's looking forward to living in the city for the first time, but not even fresh paint and new wallpapers can seem to scrub away the years of oppression. But it's the only thing Harry has of Sirius' so they keep it and they live there.

 

Ginny walks the corridors with her wand drawn, _Lumos_ emitting a glowing light from the tip. She's still getting used to the new furniture in the dark.

"Come back to bed," he calls out, squinting in the darkness and the blinding pinpoint of light. Ginny whispers, " _Nox_ ," and crawls in beside him, rests her cheek on his chest and listens to his steady heart.

"It's too dark in here at night," she says quietly, "We need to install more windows."

Harry's asleep, his eyes shut, a soft snore coming from his nose. 

"I like the dark," she hears a cold, deep, otherwordly voice spring from Harry's chest. "Ginevra." She knows she's imagining it, she knows it's not real but it feels real. A shiver strikes her like lightning and she hugs Harry's body.

 _I like the dark too,_ she thinks.


End file.
